Interchange work to cause traffic squeeze on Sam Cooper Boulevard and I-40 in East Memphis

Tennessee transportation officials plan to restrict traffic on Sam Cooper Blvd. to one lane in each direction to make way for construction on the I40-240 interchange.

The Commercial Appeal

After a few months of generally minor inconveniences, construction work at the Interstate 40-240 interchange in East Memphis is about to produce major complications for area motorists.

Beginning March 15 and lasting up to 18 months, traffic on parts of Sam Cooper Boulevard and Interstate 40 will be restricted to one lane in each direction, Tennessee Department of Transportation officials say. The lane squeeze will extend about 3,000 feet from the White Station overpass over Sam Cooper eastward to the Wolf River bridge on I-40.

Traffic will be routed to the inside eastbound and westbound lanes to allow for the widening of Sam Cooper to three lanes at the interchange, said Mike Welch, district operations manager for TDOT. In the fall, vehicles will be diverted to the outside lanes to accommodate work on the inside lanes and median, including the construction of one of the piers for a 75-foot-tall flyover ramp that will connect the north loop of the interstate with eastbound I-40.

Welch said TDOT hopes the contractor, Dement Construction Co. of Jackson, Tenn., can complete the work on Sam Cooper in less than the allotted 18 months. “He’s got an incentive on this project to finish early,” he said.

During 2012, an average of more than 73,000 vehicles daily traveled Sam Cooper.

The interchange project is being built under the largest single contract — $109.3 million — ever awarded by TDOT. It includes construction of two flyovers — the one to eastbound I-40 and one going westbound from I-40 to the north loop — and the replacement of the Wolf River bridge with a wider, earthquake-resistant span. The project is expected to be completed in about three and a half years.

Since work began late last year, crews have poured 1,000 cubic yards of concrete and installed 16,000 feet of pilings for footings for the eastbound flyover ramp. “Most of the work we’re doing right now is underground,” Welch said.

John Cameron, city engineer for Memphis, said he expects many motorists to use alternatives to Sam Cooper, including Summer and Walnut Grove. City officials will monitor those streets to see if traffic increases significantly.

“We may have to modify some signal timings if there are backups caused by this,” Cameron said.

The interchange work comes as construction continues on the nearby project to widen I-240 between Poplar and Walnut Grove. That job is expected to be completed this summer — more than a year later than the initial timetable called for.